


back with your brothers; back home

by emrys (livingshitpost)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife, Banter, Bittersweet, Brother Feels, Brotherhood, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Character Death, Death, Deathfic, Gen, Not Beta Read, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23190910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys
Summary: Crosshair is always cold, but this is more than that. This is battle and blood, and a brother he'd long since lost.
Relationships: Crosshair & 99 (Star Wars)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	back with your brothers; back home

**Author's Note:**

> this is fr th kamino discord. i hate u all <3
> 
> also u can take bad batcher 99 frm my cold dead hands   
> (ง'̀-'́)ง

Crosshair is always cold; a side effect of the anemia that's followed him all through his life. But this is _more_ than that. 

This is staring at the sky, his breath rattling in his chest and a sharp copper tang on his lips. This is his hands shaking, slick with his own blood. This is hoping against hope that his brothers make it out of this mess alive. 

This is his newest, youngest brother, screaming his name as he's dragged away by the other three.

He closes his eyes, letting lose a shaking breath. His thoughts drift to the first brother he lost; left behind on Kamino and struggling to walk. He'd been the first of them to die. He'd given his life for countless brothers; brothers he barely knew, but still loved so fiercely. Crosshair coughs, laughing, as he thinks about how despite vastly different the two of them were, they died the same way.

Look at him. Already thinking of himself in the past tense.

He can hear the Havoc Marauder flying off, and he stops bothering to strain his ears. His entire body is enveloped by the cold night air of a planet he barely knows. It slithers underneath his armor, piercing his blacks. It bites at his ears and nose. It's all around him, now, and it's all he can make sense of.

The cold, and his brother.

He can hear someone talking beside him.

He furrows his brow; can't he be left to die in peace? But the voice persists, and he faintly registers that someone is saying his name. He opens his eyes.

A familiar face is smiling at him; though one he hasn't _quite_ seen. It's a clone, a brother, but not one he fully recognizes. Though that could be the blood loss.

"You sure took your time," he teases. The voice is soft, almost reserved. Something clicks in his mind.

"99?"

"Sure is, vod." 99 grins, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Looks like we both refused to go down without a fight, eh?"

Crosshair blinks, sitting up. "Is this-?"

"Manda. We think." 99 shrugs. "Seems like as good a conclusion to jump to as any." He laughs, and Crosshair finally registers that the left side of his face isn't drooping.

"Vod . . ." Crosshair starts, but can't think of anything to say. There are so many things, and none of them will make sense of themselves long enough for him to articulate.

"Hey, you did a good job. Y'gave 'em hell. You protected our brothers." 99 pulls Crosshair to his feet, and Crosshair balks at the fact that he has to look _up_ at his brother now. 99 tousles his short grey hair. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the vod'e. The other Dominoes have been keepin' an eye on our batch since the rest of you all but adopted their fifth."

"And you?"

99 smiles wryly. "You think I wasn't watching over you?" He laughs. "I appreciate the epitaph, by the way. _Clone Force 99_. It's clever."

Crosshair rolls his eyes. "Wrecker insisted."

"I know. But none of you argued him on it." 99's smile was genuine, full of nothing but love and appreciation for his brother. He opens his arms. "You mind?"

Crosshair's eyes sting. "Kark. How long's it been?"

"Little over two standard cycles."

"Too long."

99 knows that Crosshair isn't usually one for physical affection, so the way he's suddenly got arms thrown around his chest catches him slightly off guard. He squeezes back, holding his brother tightly.

"Missed this," he murmurs. "Missed you. All of you."

"We missed you too," Crosshair says. " _I_ missed you, I mean. I'm sure they still do."

"Still got that same Crosshair humor," 99 comments, chuckling. 

"Well, I'm sure you've been listening in on all my little jokes, haven't you?"

"Maybe just a bit." 99 pulls away slightly, but Crosshair's grip on him is firm. He happily returns to the hug. "It's nice to hear them myself again, though."

Crosshair is always cold, but this is different. This is simply the fact that the rest of his body could never match the warmth his brothers bring about in his heart.


End file.
